Governor Mifflin can’t keep up with talented Perkiomen Valley
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Gross — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
| Final | |
| Perkiomen Valley | 45 |
| Governor Mifflin | 13 |
Going into Friday night, Governor Mifflin coach Nick Morrissey had a good idea what his club was up against in Perkiomen Valley.
“They’re so talented,’’ Morrissey said. “We saw a high level of speed, and a high level of football tonight.’’
The Vikings got big games from elite skill-position players and cruised past the game Mustangs to a 45-13 win in Mifflin’s home opener.
Both teams are 1-1.
More on that story: Perkiomen Valley’s Colin Sturges somehow had just 17 yards rushing in the Vikings’s season-opening, 33-31 loss to Springfield, although he did catch a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Sturges is a power guy — he’s 6-1, 225, and won the state shot put championship last winter track season — but he looked explosive Friday in racking up 212 all-purpose yards and scoring three touchdowns.
Then there was PV quarterback Aiden Messatzzia, nearly flawless, completing 10-of-12 throws for 238 yards and three TDs. Most of the air damage was done by speedy wideout Joey Keough, who had five catches for 184 yards.
“We had a tough time trying to tackle number 26 (Sturges) and we had a tough time keeping up with number 6 (Keough),’’ Morrissey said. “I liked the fact that for about a quarter-and-a-half, we were in a football game.’’
Mifflin did hang around for a while.
It got solid games from quarterback Lebron Leaf, running back Patrick Steuer, who had 62 yards on just eight carries, and wide receiver Derek Dinatale, who had five catches for 56 yards.
Mifflin has another weapon it figures to fire often: kicker Lance Koenig, who had two field goals, one a 41-yarder that would have been good from 50, and whose kickoffs were consistent touchbacks.
The Mustangs had 10 first downs before halftime, but critically fumbled the ball away after driving to a first-and-goal at the Vikings’ 6 on the game’s first possession.
“You cannot turn the ball over,’’ Morrissey said. “If we were going to have a chance to be in this game in the fourth quarter, we had to play mistake-free football.’’
Sturges had runs of 44 and 71 yards, and turned a dump-off pass in traffic into a 19-yard TD, with seven seconds left before halftime.
That was a backbreaker for Mifflin, which had trailed just 14-10, on Leaf’s 15-yard TD pass to Steuer, with 4:40 left in the half.
The Vikings were back at it after halftime, driving 62 yards in six plays, the last a 41-yard gallop by Sturges that ended the suspense.
Morrissey’s team kept slugging.
“I liked our offensive game plan,’’ he said. “We did some nice things, but you’ve got to finish drives if you’re going to compete with teams of that caliber.’’
The Mustangs beat Pleasant Valley 35-20 last week. They lost to Perkiomen Valley 31-14 last year.
Mifflin has Hempfield at home next week.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Perkiomen Valley | 7 | 21 | 14 | 3 | 45 |
| Governor Mifflin | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Perkiomen Valley | Keough, 66 pass from Aiden Messatzzia (Juliun Corropolese kick) | 7:47 |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Koenig, 21 FG | 11:08 |
| 2 | Perkiomen Valley | Sturges, 44 run (Corropolese kick) | 10:02 |
| 2 | Gov Mifflin | Steuer, 15 pass from Lebron Leaf (Koenig kick) | 4:50 |
| 2 | Perkiomen Valley | Corropolese 1 run (Corropolese kick) | 2:51 |
| 2 | Perkiomen Valley | Sturges, 19 pass from Messatzzia (Corropolese kick) | 7.6 |
| 3 | Perkiomen Valley | Sturges, 41 run (Corropolese kick) | 10:29 |
| 3 | Gov Mifflin | Koenig, 41 FG | 4:10 |
| 3 | Perkiomen Valley | Keough, 61 pass from Messatzzia (Corropolese kick) | 3:24 |
| 4 | Perkiomen Valley | Corropolese, 30 FG | 3:03 |
Team statistics
| PERKIOMEN VALLEY | GOVERNOR MIFFLIN | |
| First downs | 14 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 25-277 | 37-119 |
| Passing yards | 238 | 104 |
| Total yards | 515 | 223 |
| Passes | 10-12-0 | 9-18-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 0 | 3-30.6 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-55 | 3-25 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Perkiomen Valley: Sturges 5-181, McCabe 6-26, Gambone 9-66, Messatzzia 2-0, Cox 3-4.
Governor Mifflin: Leaf 9-7, Kalis 19-45, Steuer 8-62, Millisock 1-5.
PASSING
Perkiomen Valley: Messatzzia 10-12-238.
Governor Mifflin: Leaf 10-18-1-104.
RECEIVING
Perkiomen Valley: Keough 5-181, Sturges 2-29, Gambone 1-9, Boyd 1-6, Nester 1-13.
Governor Mifflin: Dinatale 5-56, Murray 2-23, Overkey 3-25.
INTERCEPTIONS
Perkiomen Valley: Corropolese.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Perkiomen Valley: Corropolese.
